BETTER FINANCE issued a press release on the worrying latest amendments to the European Parliament’s ECON Committee draft report on the IORP II Directive. BETTER FINANCE urged MEP Brian Hayes and the ECON Committee to remove these latest outrageous amendments. Regulatory convergence and the removal of existing obstacles would allow savers to shop around for
The European Commission’s review of the shareholders rights directive is a good step forward, but, if not amended and improved upon by the European Parliament, will fail to fix the high barriers to shareholder engagement in EU listed companies. Please read more about BETTER FINANCE’s concerns here.
Individual European investors and consumers are in danger of losing out as Regulations from Brussels aimed at protecting their interests are facing indefinite delay and drastic dilution. On Wednesday 20 November, the European Parliament will vote on a proposal for a Key Information Document (KID) aimed at addressing this issue. However, the package is in
In february 2015, in a 18 page document called "The Union of Capital Markets: An Investor Perspective", Blackrock CEO Larry Fink`s message was clear: the EU should assess the possibility of creating a cross-border personal pension fund. With a potential 240 million European citizens reached, the EU Commission, starting efforts for such a pan-european pension
On the 21st of March, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the Operations of the European Supervisory Authorities. Commissioner Dombrovskis declared that the Brexit has made the need to reform these authorities more urgent. One of the main idea submitted by the European Commission is to increase the power of ESAs so they
The PRIIPS regulation was initially welcomed as a protection for savers. However the new PRIIPS regulation will impose the submission of a key information document that is not up to scratch. According to Guillaume Prache, Managing Director at BETTER FINANCE; “the text as it stands goes against the protection of savers and investors.” "We want
There are about 3.3 million individual shareholders in France representing about 6.5% of all shareholding in the 40 largest French companies, two times less than in 2009. The figure remains approximate because, for unclear reasons, companies are reluctant to reveal their numbers. Banks appear to communicate more openly on this issue. Guillaume Prache, Managing Director
BETTER FINANCE was mentioned in an article made by the newspaper Déontofi concerning the life insurance in Europe. Read the full article in french here.
In an article for French financial newspaper La Tribune, Bernard Cherlonneix, chairman of the “Institut pour le renouveau démocratique”, took a closer look at the role of central banks today’s economy. Mr Cherlonneix argues that central banks are in a state of what he calls "fearful schizophrenia" and questions how they can justify advocating “orthodox fiscal management”
"Barriers to Shareholder Engagement – A report on cross-border voting" was mentioned in a Spanish article in El Pais. The article focus on shareholders’ participation in companies in Spain and the barriers investors have to face which continue to make cross-border voting a challenge: "Costs, logistics or different requirements and national standards make it particularly difficult for individual shareholders